Humanity
by redxhighxheels
Summary: After dreaming of Bella and searching for her for thirty long years, Jacob finds her once again in the last place that he had thought to look.But his ending is not to be happy, while hers is. BxE


The war began thirty years ago with a single bite. By changing his only love into one like himself, Edward had initiated a centuries-old grudge between the Cullens and the Quileute werewolves. And so the war began. After the wedding, Edward and Bella had fled to Alaska, where they were to change her. They didn't expect to be trailed by a certain Jacob Black, intent on keeping Bella human.

With Jacob following them so closely, they were constantly on the move. Eight months passed and left Edward with no opportunity to change Bella. And then Jacob lapsed. He had not expected them to move through Greenland so quickly, or he would have been on guard. One ill-times rest was all that it took for him to lose them completely. And for Bella to lose her humanity.

Bella was completely thrilled. Despite having been forced to reach nineteen by the werewolf's trailing, Edward had finally transformed her. Dark locks of her newly thick and luxuriant hair fell around her pale skin, framing eyes yet too red to redeem the golden color she knew they would one day have. And her strength! Never again, she was satisfied to know, would she be the weakest link in her new eternal family. But that wasn't the best part. That would be Edward, previously so timid and fearful of injuring her, being able to show her all of himself without fear of wounding. And now they had who knows how many lifetimes to spend together. Soul mates eternally, thought Bella and smiled, flashing perfect and yet menacing teeth.

After he lost Bella and Edward's trail, Jacob fell into a depression so deep that he was unable to change into his wolf-like self. Miserably, he wandered all about North America, hoping to see Bella run toward him, small and human and warm. And at last, after three years, Jacob returned home. La Push was as it had always been, except that there were no longer any vampires down the street. While Edward and Bella had run to Alaska the night of the wedding, the others had fled to a different place entirely. Feeling that if he could just discover that place he would find Bella, Jacob tried to investigate. But it was not to be. The Cullen's house smelled so strongly of the vampires that the scent was thoroughly confused. He had nothing to do but leave town and search in every cloudless place that he could imagine. In that way, 11 more years passed.

Mobile, Alabama had seemed an unlikely place to Jacob, who remembered Bella saying that the leeches preferred the north. But he had to try, and he was following a bit of a lead. The University of South Alabama website had seemed small and hokey, but a single article in the student-run newspaper had caught his eye. An editorial, no longer than a column, discussed the merits of the rather dreadful Heathcliff in a style that he knew to be Bella's. And even though the editorial was nameless, something had led him here. He had begun to age, you see. The inability to morph had manifested itself into something more permanent. And when he could no longer change over, he began to grow older. And so at age 27, he sought Bella, wondering at how old she would be if he found her.

Alice had told Edward that she saw Bella crying, and Edward knew that she wasn't unhappy. Since he wasn't likely the cause of this, he could imagine what was happening. Damn, he thought, damn that werewolf to hell. They had been comfortable in Mobile, and they were well into their sophomore year. And then they would have to leave again. But they had Esme and Carlisle to return to, at least. They were settled in Vermont, where the mountains and the clouds provided the perfect atmosphere for vegetarian vampires. And, stopping only to explain to Bella what was going on and to pack their bags, they fled to his family.

Jake came too late again. He had missed them. He knew at once that his hunch was right when he casually asked a girl if she knew an Edward Cullen, and was answered by giggles. And then it was time to ask about Bella. But nobody here knew an Isabella Cullen. Was she still going by Swan, was it possible? And so it was. The freckly guy he asked about Bella responded with a grin,

"Yeah, I know who you're talking about. Lived off campus with her boyfriend. And a hot one, she was! They left though, I'm not sure where they went."

And with that one comment, Jake knew that he had once more been too late.

Jake was forty-six years old. Just over thirty years had passed since he had last seen Bella. In the nineteen years since his closest brush with her, he had come no closer. He was just forcing himself to admit that he had lost her forever. But he still had one place left to try.

New York City was gorgeous. Bella loved it there, and she stretched luxuriantly under the clouds as Edward grinned at her. Suddenly giddy, she threw herself into his arms.

"Can I just tell you how glad I am that it's cloudy, so we can see the city?"

Edward smiled and embraced her back. "Then I am glad too. I want to take you anywhere you want to go. And happy anniversary, Mrs. Cullen."

Bella's answering smile was so large that it blinded him for awhile. "Happy thirtieth anniversary, Mr. Cullen. I love you."

And taking his hand, they strolled through Times Square, looking to everyone like an advertisement for Calvin Klein.

Jake thought that the city was crowded, hot, and exactly not where two vampires were likely to hide. But he knew Bella liked cities, and that upstate New York was probably a more reasonable hiding place for vamps. Well, he thought to himself, maybe he kept her human after all. But he didn't let himself acknowledge the hope that had kept him chasing them for thirty years. The hope that she would be in her forties as well, perfectly warm and human, and happy to see him. And so he turned off the street and took a walk through Central Park to clear his head.

Bella stood in front of Tiffany's with an incredulous expression.

"I do NOT need more diamonds Edward!"

"Just a little one?" He smiled in a way that he knew she couldn't resist, and he was rewarded.

"How little are we talking?"

With a grin, he led his wife inside.

Jake was strolling down 5th Avenue when the scent hit him. An overwhelming smell that he recognized and would know anywhere. Even though he hadn't changed in thirty years, he could feel himself rippling at the idea. There were vampires here, and they were close.

Just outside of Tiffany's, with Bella clutching the little box and looking amazed at her luck, the couple stiffened. A putrid scent had come through the air, one that Edward knew well but Bella had only previously caught slight whiffs of. Werewolf.

Edward and Bella held hands, and gazed into each other's eyes quickly. This was a war, they knew, and they could not be sure if they would be attacked. But, keeping calm, they walked in the direction of the scent, focusing on each other just in case it was the last thing that they would do.

Jake walked along the street, hoping against hope to see a young man with an older woman. It had to be them, they must be here. And then he saw them, and he stopped in wonder. This was not about war to him, it was about closure. They walked together down the road, holding hands and leaning into one another, eternally young and perfect. Jake's gaze lingered on Bella. She was herself, yet more perfect than she had any right to be. Her hair waved down to the middle of her back, and her snowy skin was housing perfectly angular and symmetrical features. The eyes, he was pleased to notice, were a light golden color. So she was one of them.

Bella and Edward saw him, but were surprised, much more so than he had been. Didn't werewolves stop aging? And yet, Jacob Black stood on the other side of the road, fists clenched, looking exactly like his father had. Jacob Black was _old_. He was not the round faced youth of Bella's first acquaintance, nor the hard-bodied teen she later knew. He was sad, broken, and aged. Her heart, the small fissure that Jacob had carved into it, ached a little in response to seeing him, and reading the misery so plain on his face. But looking into Edward's eyes, she knew that she could do no more for Jake. And so she looked him in the eyes and nodded once, then kept walking with her husband.

Jake watched them go, with emotions swirling all around him. She had chosen thirty years ago, he had just been too stubborn to admit it. She was his, eternally. Jacob had lost. And though he knew they were to forever be his enemies, he could not bring himself to attack or hate them. They loved, and that was enough for them. He just wished it was enough for himself. And so, at age 46, Jacob Black found what he was looking for and stopped searching. He returned home to La Push, where he was welcomed back as a tribal elder. And he lived his life telling stories of the cold ones to young Quileutes who no longer transformed and no longer believed, all while knowing that his heart belonged to one of them. And Edward and Bella? Happiness eternal.The pair were never seen by Jacob Black again, except in his haunting dreams.


End file.
